David Harris (17)

Tuesday, September 9th
Books Inc. Palo Alto welcomes David Harris, author of The Genius: How Bill Walsh Reinvented Football and Created an NFL Dynasty.

The Genius is the gripping and definitive account of Bill Walsh's career and how he built a football dynasty from the rubble of a fallen franchise. ... (more)David Harris gives a stellar account of the silver-haired sophisticate from humble working-class roots who was hired as head coach and general manager of the San Francisco Forty Niners in January 1979 and became the architect of what is arguably the greatest ten-year run in NFL history.
With unmatched access to players, fellow coaches, executives, the reporters who covered the Niners' heyday, and Walsh himself, Harris recounts how Walsh, through tactical and organizational genius, created a football juggernaut. There were also the demons that pushed and haunted Walsh throughout his career: his clash with his former mentor, Paul Brown, who denied Walsh his first pro head-coaching job with the Cincinnati Bengals; Walsh's struggle with self-doubt and criticism; the toll his single-minded devotion to football exacted on his family; and his complex relationship with the Forty Niners' owner, Edward DeBartolo, Jr.
In the annals of sport, few individuals have had as great an impact on their game-or on its relevance to life outside the lines-as Bill Walsh. With knowledge, skill, passion, and a critical eye, David Harris reveals the brilliant man behind the coaching legend.